Emma Hakansson: Collective Fashion Justice

"Our entire food supply is completely dependent on chemicals and completely dependent on four to eight companies around the world to produce all these products." – Shely Aronov Shelly Aronov is the founder and CEO of InnerPlant. InnerPlant is kind of like Google Translate for plants. They're bioengineering plant genes so that crops can send messages to farmers, and the farmers will literally be able to understand what's going wrong with the crops. So that when they're under attack, the farmers will know much earlier than they do now. The reason I'm so excited about what Shelly and InnerPlant are doing is because once they're launched and scaled, this will greatly reduce the use of pesticides in farming. And the faster we move away from pesticides the better as they are destroying everything in their wake. "Plants communicate all the time, sending chemical signals to warn each other about threats. InnerPlant makes it possible to understand what plants are saying." InnerPlant "How do you increase biodiversity and how do you increase the microbial density of the soil? You just stop killing everything out there. Right, if we stop killing every single weed, if we stop putting a ton of chemicals that are really toxic on the soil, then everything's going to bounce back and nature is really good at bouncing back." – Shely Aronov

10 Maalis 202224min

"I put on the coat, I looked at myself in the mirror, I was going to a party in Brooklyn and I just thought, 'you cannot go to this party like this, you will be shunned and you don't want to be this person." And I took off the coat and I never looked back." – Kym Canter Kym Canter is the founder and creative director at House of Fluff, a New York City-based, animal free, material innovation studio and outerwear brand. They also happen to make some of my favorite faux fur coats on the planet. All of their products are made from cruelty-free sources. Their fur products are also vegan, because in addition to not using animal fur or leather, their furs do not contain wool or silk. Most faux furs contain non-biodegradable fibers such as polyester and acrylic, so when using recycled fibers made from these virgin synthetics, House of Fluff makes sure that they meet the Global Recycled Standards (GRS) and are sourced from post consumer waste. And, to begin solving for virgin synthetics, House of Fluff launched the first of their BIOFUR™ innovations in November 2020. All textiles in their BIOFUR™ collection are recyclable and made from either plant-based or 100% recycled materials. Back in the day, in another lifetime, Kym was the creative director at J. Mendel, a global luxury brand known for its animal furs. Kym's transformation is one of the best stories I've heard in a long time. Links: House of Fluff https://houseoffluff.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hofnyc/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hofnyc

3 Maalis 202231min

This week we are re-sharing one of our favorite episodes, a conversation with Jonathan Balcombe. "…gazing up to the night sky saying, 'are we alone?' …well, wait a minute, look around, there's tons of fascinating life forms. We're so lucky to have all this amazing panoply of life on the planet. I get the question… are there other humanoids out there? Or, are there other conscious beings? But we ought to be pretty grateful for what we have on this planet… there's a lot of amazing creatures and phenomena that we get to enjoy living with, if we can." - Jonathan Balcombe Jonathan Balcombe is a biologist with a Ph.D. in ethology, the study of animal behavior. He is the author of four books on the inner lives of animals, including the New York Times bestseller, What a Fish Knows. He has published over 60 scientific papers and book chapters on animal behavior and animal protection. Jonathan has spent his life studying animals, how they think and feel, and why they matter. Quite often, he focuses on the ones that most of us tend not to think about very much, like fish and in his newest book, flies – Super Fly comes out in May. I thought I knew a little bit about fish, but after reading Jonathan's book and after this time spent with him, I realized that I knew very little. There are 33,000 species of fish and what many of them are capable of is absolutely mind-blowing . For eons, we have categorized species by who we deem worthy and who we don't. Fish are almost always very near or at the bottom of that list. Clearly, that is because most of us know so little about them. Jonathan knows a lot. If you haven't read his book, read it. It will astonish you. Jonathan can most recently be seen in the Netflix documentary, Seaspiracy. Visit Jonathan's Website Read Jonathan's Books Follow Jonathan on Twitter Like Jonathan on Facebook

24 Helmi 202240min

"We make everything from a vegan rib, so we got a rib that'll blow your mind. Looks like a rib, tastes like a rib, but guess what? It ain't a rib… it can go on the grill, you can smoke it, you can literally barbecue it and it comes out like mama's ribs that you ate when you grew up." – Chef Chew GW Chew, aka Chef Chew, is a vegan food inventor and restaurateur on a mission is to change lives and to bring holistic solutions to urban communities. He's developed a of plant protein called Better Chew, which helps meat-eaters transition into a vegan lifestyle. He grew up in rural Southern Maryland to a family of devoted carnivores, and experienced the tragedy of losing close relatives due to diet-related diseases (diabetes, cancer). When he was 18, he decided to go vegan in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, but found that many plant-based foods at the time were less than palatable. After nearly 20 years of experimenting with literally thousands of ingredients and cooking techniques, and three vegan restaurants, Chef Chew found the secret to the most authentic plant-based versions of his favorite ethnic and comfort foods and Better Chew entered the plant-based food scene. And he's done all of this with the goal of democratizing access to healthy, plant-based foods by making them affordable and accessible to all people. LINKS: Better Chew: https://eatbetterchew.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterchew Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterchew/

17 Helmi 202234min

"One percent of the U.S. is vegan, about five percent is vegetarian… And so if I'm thinking about where can I make the most money, it's not going after the vegans. And if I'm thinking about where can I make the greatest impact, getting a plant based person to switch from one plant based burger to another does zip. And so our focus is how can we help people move the needle with those who aren't on board yet?" David Benzaquen is one of the world's leading experts in the plant-based food industry and he's the founder of Mission: Plant, a holding company advancing the plant-based sector with strategic investments and consulting services. He has been a part of the plant-based food scene since it really started to take off, and a few months ago he launched an entirely vegan online grocery store called Plant Belly – its stocked with all of his (and my) favorite plant-based foods. It's absolutely awesome. David is one of the stars of the plant-based movement and I'm extremely grateful to him for making it grow. www.missionplant.com www.moonshotcollaborative.com www.plantbelly.com

10 Helmi 202249min

" As we were driving from Jackson, Wyoming, towards the entrance of the park, I was in the passenger seat, Charlie was driving and I saw a bison and I'll never forget it. I grabbed him so hard on the arm and I screeched, "BISON!" It was the first bison I'd ever seen in the wild. We stopped the car and we were a good distance from the bison. But we could see it unimpeded with the windshield and just let it walk and do what he was doing. And I don't know, something in my heart turned over." – Barbara King Barbara King is emerita professor of anthropology at William & Mary and a freelance science writer and public speaker and the author of seven books. She is an expert on animal cognition and emotion. Barbara has been on the podcast before to talk about how animals grieve and love. If you haven't heard that episode, take a listen. She is back to talk about her 7th book, Animals' Best Friends: Putting Compassion to Work for Animals in Captivity and in the Wild. There are many reasons that I love this book, but mostly because Barbara delves into and shares how we can be better humans to all other animals on this planet. Her work helps us better understand and advocate for the rights of animals. The more that humans know about animal's intelligence and emotional lives, the harder it becomes to harm them. Barbara is a storyteller and through the stories of the individual animals as well as her own personal accounts, she makes us care.

3 Helmi 202250min

Today we are re-sharing one of our favorite episodes, a conversation with Helena Husseini. I usually live day by day. I always live every day like it's going to be the last day. We learned that during the war. We don't know when we're going to die. So, you live every day like it's going to be the last day. That's what I do." – Helena Husseini Helena Husseini is the vice-president of BETA, Beirut Ethical Treatment for Animals. BETA is the first and largest shelter in Lebanon with 850 dogs, many cats, a few horses, and a couple of monkeys. Helena is also an architect. She has been with BETA since 2006, a few months before the Lebanon War started. As bombs dropped nearby, she drove around in her Jeep saving the injured and abandoned dogs that had been left behind. Since then, she has been rescuing animals during the too many crises and catastrophes that have plagued Lebanon, including the 2019 financial collapse, the riots, COVID-19, and the blast that decimated Beirut. This conversation is really one that's about resilience, about grit, about what it means to show up every day, even when bombs are dropping, when there's no access to money, when people are starving, and no one knows what tomorrow will look like. It's a conversation about what it means to choose the meaningful life. I hope that you are as completely floored by Helena and her stories as I was. Learn More About BETA Like BETA on Facebook Follow BETA on Youtube Support BETA's "Surviving in Lebanon" fundraiser to provide shelter to their hundreds of rescue animals before they are left without a refuge.

27 Tammi 202242min

Rich Hardy is a former undercover investigator. He spent 20 years doing over 100 assignments in 30 countries. He's been on the podcast before to talk about his time undercover. If you haven't heard that episode, you should go back and listen. He is back today to talk about his latest adventure. After a couple of decades of incredibly intense investigative work, and living a double life, Rich decided that he needed a massive change. Instead of campaigning against the horrors of animal agriculture, he and his partner Pru are now campaigning for solutions. Last year they started Lazy Meadows Farm and became a couple of vegan farmers. I didn't even know that vegan farming was a thing until Rich filled me in on it. And what surprised me even more, was learning that almost all fruit and vegetable farming everywhere isn't vegan. LINKS: Lazy Meadow Farm: https://www.lazymeadowfarm.com/ Rich on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notasnatureintended/?hl=en Rich's book: https://www.bookdepository.com/Not-Nature-Intended-Rich-Hardy/9781789650631?ref=grid-view&qid=1614899278046&sr=1-1

20 Tammi 202232min